September 15, 2025
We have received a few questions about the recent changes to VA Code related to warranty reimbursement. Specifically, some technicians have questioned how the changes will impact them.
We want to be sure there is no confusion – the franchise laws regulate the relationship between dealers and their manufacturers, including how dealers are paid for warranty and recall repairs. It ensures that dealers are paid by the manufacturers for dealers’ retail amounts for warranty and recall repairs and lays out a process for determining those amounts. As a further clarification, VA Code does not dictate a specific manual or other method of establishing the labor hours assigned to different repairs.
Like all laws, these Code provisions are not self-enforcing. Dealers will have to avail themselves of the statutory processes – including the hearing process at DMV and subsequent appeals – to ensure they are receiving appropriate reimbursement under the statute. Each dealer will make individual decisions about whether and how to pursue increased reimbursement by the manufacturers.
The franchise laws do not regulate the relationship between dealers and their technician employees. Where the manufacturer is not fairly compensating dealers for warranty work, dealers may be unable to pay technicians the same amounts as for their retail repairs. Many dealers are supplementing technician pay for warranty work above the amounts provided by the manufacturer.
Giving dealers the tools to seek fair compensation for warranty work can indirectly benefit technicians doing that work. But it is not an automatic process. And the statutory changes do not provide how technicians shall be paid by dealers.
Please let us know if you have any questions about these changes or any other issues related to warranty reimbursement. Thank you.